Now every time we go to the physician, sooner or later he/she pulls out the requisition pad and orders a half dozen or more tests. There are many handy dandy tests that can show that we are all right and have nothing wrong with us. For my annual check up . I get at least a dozen tests. Then the doc cheerfully says, "If there's anything wrong I'll phone you." Then you never get a phone call and are left wondering if everything was okay or if he just forgot to phone. Except not with my doctor. My doctor phones at least half the time and sometimes it's to confirm that something is okay so I know if he says I'll phone if there's a problem, I know he'll phone.
Now the other day I visited my Doc to get my end of life form formalized. After we finished the form, he looked at me and said, "You know we should change medication Y when you're taking medicine X. That really amazed me.
It also got me thinking about the medications we take. I take 4 medications. Three of them may give me better life quality in the future. One I need to take to function at the present time. I know that many seniors take many more medications than 4. I know that some physicians play fast and loose with interactions which may occur . Some drug interactions can possibly be very harmful or even fatal.
So here's my suggestion for a test. We should have a test for the drug interactions that occur between the various drugs that have been prescribed. The test would detect all the new sludge left in our body from the various interactions. I'm sure that the drug interactions produce some very interesting new substances. Maybe some of the new substances may be useful? I doubt it. Maybe some of the harm done to our bodies could be detected and prescriptions stopped.
I'm sure that a small part of the requisition pad could be used for a spot to tick off a test to detect crap produced by the interaction of medications!
Just think how much better off we would be!
That's a lot of tests! Your idea is interesting.
ReplyDeleteThey test a lot of routine stuff here.
DeleteI think that’s a great idea!
ReplyDeleteMany Docs are too careless about medication interactions.
DeleteA new way for the medical labs to increase their profit margins!
ReplyDeleteYes, they're rolling in it.
DeleteSounds like you’re getting good medical care in Canada, much like the US. I worry about those drug interactions too. Art had one drug he was taking for GERD cause something else to go awry with his heart. Then they discovered he didn’t have GERD and when he stopped that drug, his heart problem went away. Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteThat's a bad one. Poor diagnoses.
DeleteI take only one prescription medication and hope to keep it that way. And I hope very much that your tests show you will be around for a long time to come. You come up with some very original ideas, Red. :-)
ReplyDeleteUsually my results are fine but the one I wrote about two months ago did scare me.
DeleteYour pharmacist is the best person to talk to about this. In Ontario, you can arrange an appointment, for free, with them to have such a prescription review. It's called MedCheck. Hubby did this before he began his prostate cancer treatments. The pharmacist is the best person to know about drug interactions. He ended up with a piece of paper, which told about the results.
ReplyDeleteOnce you take more than 3 drugs, you are in the category of polypharmacy, and I wrote a piece about this in 2009
The pharmacists gives me a list but I didn't know they would do an analysis.
DeleteMy dad takes medications for epilepsy that have always kept seizures from happening. The only time there was an issue was when a doctor at the time suggested foregoing one of them.
ReplyDeleteI have senior epilepsy. That's the one med I must take.
DeleteWhen they add another one wonders what the outcome really is
ReplyDeleteYou hear too many stories about things going wrong with medications.
DeleteYou need to jot down all your ideas and submit them to a research lab, Red! I hope the tests are over for you and the Micromanager for awhile.
ReplyDeleteMy tests were finished in August. I joke with my Doc and say "See you next year!"
DeleteYou make some excellent points. I used to take nine pills and two insulin injections a day but now I'm down to only three pills and no injections.
ReplyDeleteGood for you that you improved your health.
DeleteI read an article about drug interactions earlier today something called a Serotonin Syndrom and you can die from it. Scary stuff...I just take one pill that is enough for me ..oh and vitamins:)
ReplyDeleteExcellent writing Brain!
ReplyDeleteWe often talk over this topic as we realise from our whole experience and observations of medication that it sounds intended effort if medical staff to keep us indulge in more and more tests and medicines which get along for life time and we go round and round in circle of hope and fear
Just like my ancestors, I don't take any medication. A lot of pill popping is just about drug companies boosting their profits.
ReplyDeleteSo far I have never taken any regular medications and I hope to keep it that way for as long as I can.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who is quite elderly and has recently spent quite a long time in hospital. The meds she was given routinely in hospital were many, many more than she would normally take and we were both concerned about it so I suggested she talk it over with the doctor. She did and her daily medications were greatly reduced. It never hurts to ask questions and get your treatment re-assessed.
The real danger with medicines is when people have more than one doctor. And then sometimes one doctor doesn't know what the other(s) is/are doing.
ReplyDeleteI only take warfarin for my irregular heartbeat so I am lucky for that. I get a blood test every four weeks unless my number is below or above what is recommended.
ReplyDeleteI like your ideas. You have to share them to the right parties/groups/places for them to be considered!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! It seems like they don't even think about it.
ReplyDeleteSure agree with you on this one. My doc is pretty good about checking on interactions, but still, I think the test to check for them would be good.
ReplyDelete